iPad/iPhone compatibility/power

I'm a guitarist looking to expand my live-looping world beyond the phrase loop function on my Boss ME-70. I've been looking into hardware loopers like the Boss RC300, TC Electronic Ditto x4, and the like but in terms of the number of loops for the price point I'm looking for there seems to be nothing available that suits my needs. That's where Loopy comes in.

I'm looking into purchasing a cheap iphone/ipad and a foot controller like the FCB1010 and using this combination instead of purchasing a full hardware looper. I'm just wondering if there is a certain backwards cutoff in iphone/ipad models where the device can't handle all the processing the app requires of it to perform in realtime. Ideally I'd be able to get by with an <$100 iphone so it could just stay as a part of my pedalboard. Is this realistic?

Thanks!

-Nathaniel

Comments

@Nathaniel - for just Loopy, it only requires iOS 8 (currently). I don't know if Apple is still letting earlier iOS's download the version that is compatible (it used to). By itself, Loopy is not excessively CPU hungry, so from that stand point you don't need the newest/fastest iPhone/iPad. Now if you start adding AB, AUM and an assortment of effects, you'll probably need more horsepower.

Next would be how you are connecting it to get the audio In/Out, the 5pin Din midi from the FCB in, and keep the iPhone/iPad charged. Do you already have your Guitar audio output available as USB audio and us the new cck3 for USB and charging? Do you have a 5pin Din midi to USB midi converter or a 5pin din midi to Bluetooth device ( probably need an >=iPhone 4s or >=iPad 3 or >=iPod 5 for bt-le compatibility).

@Ganthofer - Very true. I am going for smallest size since I'd like this whole rig to fit on a standard pedalboard so the following are ideal:

1 audio in
inline
USB MIDI
Battery vs AC does not matter
some type of bypass function would be helpful (I'm not sure if this can be done in Loopy or if I'd have to just run it as a separate loop from the other pedals)
prioritizing cost over convenience

All in all, this would be as simple as possible, I only need 1 audio in and 1 out.